Council sheds hundreds of staff

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More than 200 jobs are to go from Gloucestershire County Council over the next two years as the authority faces a £60m funding gap, it is announced.

The council blamed reduced government funding, a growing demand for services and an ageing population for the cuts.

Pete Bungard, Chief Executive of the council, said: "With the scale of savings needed, there will inevitably be a reduction in jobs.

"The council will do everything it can to avoid compulsory redundancies."

We know this is going to be challenging Pete Bungard, chief executive, Gloucestershire County Council

Responding to the announcement Ian Ducat, regional secretary of UNISON South West, said: "We welcome the early notice from the council that it believes it is facing a large funding gap.

"We will obviously have to consult our members and get their reaction over the course of the next few weeks."

In November 2008 the council launched the Building Our Future programme, which was tasked with making the £60m savings over three years to address the potential funding gap.

"We know this is going to be challenging but we will be providing support for all staff who are affected by these changes," said Mr Bungard.

"Doing nothing is not an option as the only alternative is to make cuts in frontline services and jobs - something we want to avoid at all costs."

Ian Ducat added: "There are of course many questions to be answered, not least of which is the apparent contradiction of central government allocating £1bn to Local Authorities across the country (through the Futures Job Fund, FJF) to save jobs whilst councils are planning to cut spending and make staff redundant.

"A cut of £60m is potentially a loss of 2,000 jobs to the Gloucestershire economy, and that's bad news for everyone in the private and public sector - this cannot be what the government intended."